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OBAMAS, BIDENS TO AGGRESSIVELY TOUT ACA — President Obama once delivered an entire State of the Union speech without once mentioning his signature health care reform, but now he’s chatting about it all over the place. Senior administration officials tell POLITICO that the Obamas and Bidens will strategically tout the law as people enroll over the next six months, especially in places where markets are weaker. The POLITICO story: http://politi.co/17qQ7h3

CLINTON PLANS ACA SPEECH FOR WEDNESDAY — Tomorrow Bill Clinton will resume his role as the Affordable Care Act’s “explainer-in-chief”—or so the White House hopes. He’ll deliver a speech about the law, at the administration’s request, and deliver it from his presidential library in Little Rock. Clinton is also expected to headline more Obamacare-related events this fall. The POLITICO story: http://politi.co/17qQmbN

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to PULSE after our week-long hiatus. We hope your weekend was relaxing and that you weren’t fooled when George W. Bush’s office mistakenly mourned the death of Nelson Mandela — right after he was released from the hospital. Your PULSEr may or may not have fallen for that one.

—On another note, our only Labor Day activity of possible general interest was viewing Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” which we must say is an exponentially better film involving mental illness than “Silver Linings Playbook.”

“’C’est la vie,’ say the old folks, it goes to show PULSE never can tell.”

OBAMACARE DEEP DIVE: KENTUCKY — Obamacare tensions are especially interesting in Kentucky, the only southern state setting up its own insurance exchange. Kentucky’s three most prominent elected officials — Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul — made clear the divisions won’t be overcome by breaking bread, or bacon, together. At a recent country ham breakfast, Beshear called for an end to the repeal efforts with the senators sitting just a few feet away. Pro’s Jen Haberkorn has the story on the ground: http://politi.co/15HWq0T

NEW OBAMACARE LITMUS TEST — Just about nothing is apolitical when it comes to the health care law. Even the government’s decision to keep contributing to health coverage for members of Congress and their staff, as it’s been doing for years. Republicans in tight races are squeezing a populist message out of the decision, rushing to show voters they’re willing to take a financial hit to stand in solidarity with regular Americans. The POLITICO story: http://politi.co/15HWKgb

IOWA BANS CHEMICAL ABORTIONS PRESCRIBED REMOTELY — A long distance video system allowing doctors to prescribe abortion-inducing pills to patients without seeing them in person will be banned, under a vote on Friday by the Iowa Board of Medicine. The system was used by Planned Parenthood of Heartland, which said it helps women in remote areas get abortions. The AP story: http://wapo.st/17s0r8z

WAGE GAP PERSISTS AMONG FEMALE DOCTORS — Female doctors haven’t seen their earnings catch up to the earnings of male physicians over the last 20 years, according to a research letter by University of Southern California researcher Seth Seabury. Data between 1987 and 2010 showed no statistically significant improvement in the earnings of female physicians relative to male physicians — even though the gender gap narrowed outside the health care industry during the same time period. The JAMA release: http://bit.ly/1744d8Z

STUDY: HOSPITAL INFECTIONS COST $9.8 BILLION EACH YEAR — Five of the major infections contracted in a hospital or clinic cost $9.8 billion every year, according to another study published in JAMA yesterday. Researchers found that bloodstream infections derived from an IV were the most costly, followed by ventilator-associated pneumonia and surgical site infections. The release: http://bit.ly/1dJdw4s

A SCUFFLE AT ENERGY AND COMMERCE — A partisan scuffle broke out last week on the Energy and Commerce Committee over GOP demands for an information dump from half of the navigator groups. Republicans have asked the navigators to release details about their inner workings, discussions with the Obama administration and campaign activities. Ranking member Henry Waxman said they’re burdening the groups with time-consuming requests on the verge of open-enrollment season. The Republicans’ letter to the navigators: http://politico.pro/17ouL5C And Waxman’s letter to his Republican colleagues: http://1.usa.gov/15qWn5l

—HHS also hit back. “This is a blatant and shameful attempt to intimidate groups who will be working to inform Americans about their new health insurance options and help them enroll in coverage, just like Medicare counselors have been doing for year,” an agency spokesman told my colleague Jason Millman.

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UNIONS: ME, TOO — Some unions are getting more and more annoyed that the Obama administration hasn’t eased rules for the non-profit, multi-employer health plans they offer workers. These “Taft-Hartley” plans should be eligible for subsidies just like the for-profit plans on the exchanges, say union leaders, who are indignant that the administration has tweaked ACA rules for churches, businesses and lawmakers but not for them. The Hill story: http://bit.ly/17ih2ct

—But a prominent union leader is more optimistic about the situation. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Thursday that he is making some progress in getting the administration to address his concerns about the law.

HOSPITALS, HERE’S AN ACA TOOLKIT — Compliments of Enroll America, which has put together guidance for hospitals on how to enroll people for Medicaid for a temporary “presumptive eligibility” period. States have used presumptive eligibility for years to easily enroll children and pregnant women in Medicaid benefits. The toolkit: http://bit.ly/19KWJJ1

FACEBOOK GOOD FOR HIV MESSAGING — Researchers found that Facebook is effective in relaying HIV prevention messages, especially for those who seek sex online and may be at higher risk for the virus as a result. In a 12-week trial, more of those in a Facebook group requested an HIV testing kit than those in a control group. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine: http://politico.pro/136Tji8

CMS: NURSING HOMES USING ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS LESS — Last week CMS released data showing that antipsychotic drug use is down in nursing homes. The news got lots of applause from Adrienne Mims, president of the American Health Quality Association, who said it’s partly because her members’ work towards better clinical practices. The CMS announcement: http://go.cms.gov/14ALzWE

WE CONGRATULATE Lynnae Ruttledge, who President Obama intends to appoint to the Commission on Long-Term Care, he announced Friday. Ruttledge is a disability policy advisor to Daughters of Charity Technology Research Into Disability.

WHAT WE’RE READING

Google employees were eating too many free M&M’s — so the company used its massive data-gathering capacity to figure out how to reduce consumption, the Washington Post reports. http://wapo.st/173YYWN

Some Massachusetts companies are considering trimming employees’ insurance benefits, following suit behind national companies who have already done so, according to the Boston Globe. http://b.globe.com/19aYRJi

Other states have early indicators of how Obamacare will affect insurance rates next year, but Illinois residents are still clueless, writes the Chicago Tribune editorial board. http://bit.ly/17zoulX

In states that aren’t promoting the new insurance exchanges, health care providers, insurers, bill collectors and community groups have stepped in to do the job, USA Today reports. http://usat.ly/15Mb4nZ

USA Today also reports that Ave Maria University has filed a second lawsuit against the federal government over the contraception mandate, five months after its first lawsuit was dismissed. http://usat.ly/16WarHU

Former CMS Administrator Don Berwick recently shared some thoughts about running for governor of Massachusetts and his recommendations to England for restoring trust in their own health care system, NPR reports. http://n.pr/1a43Tf7

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